Westport Young Woman's League Minute Man 5K & 10K Race
Sunday, April 26, 2009, 07:45 AM

I am going to do this! My first 5K. I've been talking about doing one.. I've been running occasionally on my treadmill, and now I'm going to really do it! It's a family event, I may bring my kids with me too! I'll have to see how into training they are, I only registered myself at this point, can always add them later. It is a fundraiser so once I get my webpage up I'll post a link in case anyone is interested.

I'm having a great weekend. I bought some Muscle Milk Protein powder yesterday at GNC and it was $22 off. I love a bargain. And I had heard that the Cookies & Cream flavor was pretty good.. indeed it is. I had one shake last night and one for breakfast. I've not really been focusing on getting all my protein and calories in lately, but looking back I realize it is when I am at the high end of my calorie intake that I am losing weight. And I need the protein to make me feel full, and more importantly FOR MY HAIR. And I do think it boosts my energy too. Nothing wrong with that!

I'm up at the Lake this weekend, heading back tomorrow or Tuesday. I don't have to work until Wednesday. Hubby and the kids will be up here all week. I will take that time alone at home to spend some extra time at the Gym.

Well, that's about it.. as my daughter would say: " Peace Out"

I know it is the holidays, but I am getting frustrated with the scale! Yes.. I have had a bite of this and a bite of that ( cookies, fudge, etc.) But I hardly eat anything at meals, well at least compared to the way I used to eat. The scale hasn't moved. Right after I got my 2nd fill I lost 2 more pounds.. but then the last 2-3 weeks.. nothing! I weigh myself on Friday.. I got on this morning thinking surely this week it would move and I could greet the new year and my 40th birthday with hopes of reaching my goal. Same weight. :: sigh:: I wanted to lose 40lbs by my 40th birthday. My birthday is a week from Monday.. which means an 8 lb loss to reach the goal. Yikes! I need to go on the Biggest Loser Ranch to pull weightloss like that! LOL

I did make it to the gym this week, although the weight training appt was cancelled due to snow. I have another appointment with Claudia next week to learn more about weight training. Santa also brought me an exercise ball. ($6 @ Sears, woohoo) so I am going to work on my abs with that since I hate laying flat on the floor. On a positive note, my water intake has improved dramatically. Yayy, I'm getting in 40 ounces out of habit now and only struggle with the last 20.
And I did have a small victory on Christmas Eve that I think I will write about. I was stuffing the stockings and usually fill them with small items and then fill the rest with loose candy. I was sitting there with the bags of candy and knew if I opened the bags, I'd eat a bit of each ( peanut M&M's and PBcups). So... instead .. I just shoved a whole bag into each kids stockings. The next day they opened stockings, and traded with each other so they ended up with some of each kind of candy anyways. So I went to bed feeling proud of myself for resisting the urge to wolf down the candy.
So.. I guess even though the scale isn't moving, I'm making progress. These bad habits aren't just going to go away overnight. I still love potato chips. I still like fried food. But I'm learning to make better choices.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Getting Stuck

Well, it finally happened... I got what is called 'stuck' (in bandster language). It means that something I ate didn't want to pass through the tight part of my stoma where the Lapband is. Sometimes it just takes a bit of time to work its way through, other times you end up throwing it up, or what is called "productive burping". Luckily I just needed a bit of time and it passed on its own. It was a hairy 15 minutes though while I paced the bathroom at the mall wondering if I was going to have my first PB experience too. I did not. I took some Papaya enzymes( said to help break down food and allow it to pass easier) and it seemed to work. What an awful feeling though, I will definitely be more careful. I had my 2nd fill over a week ago, and I definitely have restriction now. I think I had gotten a little relaxed on the whole chewing and taking tiny bite routine. Well.. after that painful, unpleasant reminder, I won't be lax again -that is for sure. OUCH. So the band is working. I'm eating less.. but still the weight loss is slow. But that's okay.. I know slow and steady win the race. And so far no hanging skin.. woohoo!

I saw my Gyno the other day for my annual and she was VERY pleased and asked me all kinds of questions about Lapband and the requirements. She then said, I'm sorry I never suggested it, I know you struggled with weight loss, but I hadn't realized you'd be a candidate.Common misconception. I always thought you had to be at least a 100 pounds overweight too. You don't. We chatted a while and I ended by telling her if she had any patients that wanted to talk to someone that had been through it to give them my number.

I hit my 30 lb loss mark. I am so thrilled.. sometimes I just can't believe it when I look at the scale and the smaller numbers. It really feels like a miracle. I struggled for so long and always felt like such a failure-- I love this!
Oh.. one more thing.. I highly reccomend the Wii Fit. Omgosh is that fun. I did the Hula Hoop game with my daughter the other night and we were laughing and having a great time.. the next day my abs were sooo sore. I guess I was working out harder than I thought. and the Yoga is fun too.. as long as nobody is around. I do that one when the kids are at school because I am such an unbalanced clod. The kids just laugh..limber little shits.. LOL For Christmas I got my daughter All Star Cheer Squad- a cheerleading game for the Wii. Should be fun.

Off to do more shopping and try to get my Christmas cards addressed and mailed.

Good Morning!

I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving. Mine was terrific. My parents drove across Canada (from MI) to come stay with us at our cabin upstate NY. We all had a great time. It is always great to get a little time with your mom. Well, I guess maybe not everyone feels that way, but I do. We cooked, shopped, talked, just had a nice time. They were happy to see my weight loss, but surprised by how much I can still eat. But I was surprised too.. I mean, it's not as much as before, but I was still able to eat a full plate of Thanksgiving food, with about 1/2 cup of each food. And Pie.. it took a few hours later, but I had room for pie too! Monday I went and got a fill! Monday night I had some soup, and then felt full for hours! Even a little too full.. but I'm sure I'll get used to it. I still showed a loss by the Doc's scale, but I know it was a 2 pound gain from last week. Pie. I'm sure. Oh well.. today is a new day, this is a new week, and even a new month! Lots of opportunities....
On Thursday I am meeting with Claudia, the nutrionist/trainer woman from my gym. We are going to go over weight training. I'm excited. Building muscles boosts your metabolism. I want to try to map out a clear schedule of work outs.. correction.. I want to map out a schedule of workouts. Not try. Do.
I was reading a a success story on lapbandtalk.com and the person had done a triathlon and was just really inspiring. Do you know what they call the last person to finish a triathlon? The same thing they call the first person, a triathlete. I love that saying. Now, mind you, I don't think I will ever do a triathlon as I am not much of a swimmer, but I am still planning on doing a 5K this spring.
Off to start my day.. have a good one!